The president got the red carpet treatment – literally – and some airport workers took off their shoes before manicuring it with brooms in 97-degree heat

Trump and First Lady Melania take part in a welcome ceremony by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (right) upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh today, accompanied by Prince Khaled bin Salman (center)

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were both seen arriving in the Middle East on Trump's first foreign tour since taking office

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive to receive the Order of Abdulaziz al-Saud medal from Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (center right)

Donald Trump and wife Melania, dressed in a black jumpsuit with statement belt, sip a drink as they are welcomed by the Saudi king

US President Donald Trump receives the Order of Abdulaziz al-Saud medal at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh on May 20

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner arrive to attend the presentation of the Order of Abdulaziz al-Saud medal at the Saudi Royal Court

Trump and King Salman had a welcome ceremony inside the Royal Terminal of King Khalid International Airport after Air Force One landed

There were 30 U.S. flags at the ready at the airport, a tiny fraction of the thousands that line streets and highways between the airport and the city center.

A 90-person Royal Saudi Air Forces honor guard practiced rifle drills and then stood at attention while Trump and his kingly escort ambled toward the terminal.

He heard an eight-bugle fanfare, watched a seven-jet flyover trailing red, white and blue smoke. And cannon fire. Lots of cannon fire, which didn't cease until Trump and King Salman were safely inside.

The president got the red carpet treatment – literally – and some airport workers even took off their shoes before manicuring it with brooms in 97-degree heat

A 90-person Royal Saudi Air Forces honor guard practiced rifle drills and then stood at attention while Trump and his kingly escort ambled toward the terminal – with first lady Melania walking a few steps behind him

The president and the king sat together in 'The Beast,' the White House's armored SUV that travels in the belly of Air Force One

Inside the terminal, the fragrant smell of oud filled the air as workers burned the aromatic wood in charcoal lamps.

Wafting Saudi oud scents also permeate the air in the souks – marketplaces – that snake through the oldest part of town. Just steps away is Ad Deerah, known to locals as 'chop-chop square' because of periodic public beheadings.

Trump will face questions over the weekend about the wisdom of establishing partnerships with a government known for human rights violations and for its Medieval treatment of women.

Females cannot drive cars in the kingdom, and their every move, from travel to shopping, is overseen by male family members.

On Saturday the only females seen among the welcome retinue were a pair of small girls presenting flowers and an African-American woman, who turned out to be a U.S. Secret Service agent.

Melania and Ivanka Trump seemed determine to make a statement by deplaning without head coverings, a rare sight among women in Riyadh whose main choices are the hijab and the niqab.

Still, the first lady stayed a half-dozen steps behind King Salman and her politician-husband, escorted by a lone U.S. Marine in full dress uniform.

Donald Trump flew to the capital Riyadh overnight on Air Force One, and his arrival following the 6,700-mile flight was met with the pomp usually reserved for a Papal welcome in South America

The U.S. president was welcomed by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (right) upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this morning

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (left) shows the way to President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh

After a welcome ceremony inside the Royal Terminal, Trump and Salman sat together in 'The Beast,' the White House's armored SUV that travels in the belly of Air Force One.

The first stop was the glitzy Ritz-Carlton, whose exterior is being lit up at night with giant projected images of the American flag.

Trump's first overseas speech is expected to frame the global fight against ISIS and other Islamist terror groups as a 'battle between good and evil' – but early drafts suggest he will not use the phrase 'radical Islamic terrorism.'

He will also call on leaders in the Middle East to 'drive out terrorists from your places of worship.'

Signs of American caution are everywhere as the president who once campaigned on the strength of excluding Muslims from the U.S. ventured into the nation whose king partners in construction with the Bin Laden Group.

U.S. military snipers stood guard on nearby jetways. A duplicate Air Force One 747 jet stood by, lest Trump's schedule should be waylaid by engine trouble.

Wearing a dark suit and a bright blue tie, the president descended stairs from his exclusive plane with first lady Melania Trump, after staff including his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner – arm in arm – exited from the rear of the aircraft.

For a president who campaigned on an 'America First' platform, the trip to Saudi Arabia, pictured,is a crucial moment for U.S. allies to size up his commitment to decades-long partnerships

The president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, wore a long navy dress as she arrived in Saudi Arabia this morning as part of the party accompanying Trump

Trump is handed flowers during a welcome ceremony with Saudi King Salman at the Royal Terminal of King Khalid International Airport

DONALD'S DIPLOMACY TOUR

President Trump embarked Friday on a 15,600-mile trek through the Middle East and Europe, courting controversy at every stop. His itinerary:

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA, May 20-21

The president will meet with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for coffee and participate in a signing ceremony expected to focus on arms sales. After a meeting with leaders of more than a dozen Muslim-majority countries, he will deliver a speech about Islam that the White House is hoping will diffuse tensions resulting from his travel ban while also cementing the U.S.-Saudi relationship as a bulwark against both ISIS and Iran's nuclear ambitions. Trump will also participate in the grand opening of a cultural center dedicated to fighting Islamic radicalism and promoting a more moderate approach to practicing the religion.

The last four presidents confirmed their first trips abroad to Canada and Mexico, but Trump is going big before going home

TEL AVIV AND JERUSALEM, ISRAEL, May 22-23

Trump will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visit Jerusalem's famed Western Wall. A planned trip to the ancient Masada fort was scrapped after it was determined that the Marine One helicopter couldn't land there – and the U.S. Secret Service was unwilling to put the president in a dangling cable car. Trump does plan to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was buried and rose from the dead. He will also stop to pray at the Western Wall and lay a wreath at Yad Vashem, a Holocaust memorial.

BETHLEHEM, THE WEST BANK, May 23

A high-stakes meeting with Mahmoud Abbas will mark Trump's second sit-down with the Palestinian Authority's president. Making progress toward an ever-elusive peace deal between Arabs and Jews is the most crucial foreign policy objective of the trip, according to White House insiders.

VATICAN CITY, May 24

Trump's audience with Pope Francis could be a tense one, since the Pontiff questioned Trump's commitment to Christianity during last year's election campaign in reaction to his pledge to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Trump fired back, writing that '[f]or a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful.' Still, he will take advantage of the Holy See's hospitality with a full tour of St. Peter's.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, May 24-25

The president's first meeting with leaders from all 28 NATO member nations will provide him the opportunity to press them for greater financial contributions toward keeping Russia in check. His scheduled speech at the summit will also give him the breathing room to proclaim America's undying commitment to NATO, even though Trump called the alliance 'obsolete' while he was campaigning. Along the way the president will meet Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde and Prime Minister Charles Michel. He will also have a working lunch with newly elected French president Emmanuel Macron.

TAORMINA, ITALY, May 26-27

The 43rd G7 summit, held on the island of Sicily, will be a chance for Trump to 'press America's economic agenda and call for greater security cooperation,' according to National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster. It will also allow the president to appear presidential and calm the free world's top economic powers about his leadership style. Trump will also attend a dinner hosted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella, after seeing the famed La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra perform.

Trump bantered with the king about the Cleveland Clinic, which a previous Saudi monarch chose for cardiac surgery in the 1970s.

The American president began his improbable rise to power descending an escalator, arriving at the lobby of his Trump Tower skyscraper with no idea where he would be 22 months later.

On Saturday he ascended a different escalator leading from the airport tarmac to the king's sumptuous royal terminal, waiting for his foreign policy adventures to begin.

His first gesture to the press, the hated 'dishonest media,' was a trademark thumbs-up as the escalator climbed. The gesture is regarded in much of the Arab world as a vulgar sexual insult, although many in Saudi Arabia dispute that.

The president's stop in Saudi Arabia kicks off an ambitious international debut.

Soldiers on horseback carry US and Saudi Arabia flags and escort a car carrying Donald Trump to the Saudi Royal Court

Ivanka Trump participates in a presentation ceremony of the kingdom's top civilian honor, the gold King Abdulaziz medal, to President Donald Trump

Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump make their way to a luncheon after Trump received the gold King Abdulaziz medal

White House senior advisor Jared Kushner (center) stands alongside Donald Trump (left), commerce secretary Wilbur Ross (second from left) and chief economic advisor Gary Cohn (right) as they prepare to meet with Saudi Arabia's King and the Saudi delegation at the Royal Court in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia's King (second from right), Donald Trump and Melania Trump look at a display of Saudi modern art

President Donald Trump and the Saudi King gesture during a signing ceremony at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh on May 20

He will travel next to Israel, have an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, and meet with allies at a NATO summit in Brussels and the Group of 7 wealthy nations in Sicily.

For a president who campaigned on an 'America First' platform, the trip is a crucial moment for U.S. allies to size up his commitment to decades-long partnerships.

'President Trump understands that America First does not mean America alone,' said H.R. McMaster, Trump's national security adviser.

'Prioritising American interests means strengthening alliances and partnerships that help us extend our influence and improve the security of the American people.'

His critics expect a rocky week ahead for the china-shop bull Americans elected in November.

President Donald Trump said Friday, after a quiet morning at the White House he was 'getting ready for my big foreign trip'

The Saudi government is playing up the Trump visit, hinting at cooperation with the U.S. to fight Islamic radicalism in the region

During his tour, Trump will deliver a high-stakes speech about Islam in the heart of Saudi Arabia, meet with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nemesis Mahmoud Abbas and take in an audience with Pope Francis.

And that's before a NATO summit and a meeting of the G7 leaders.

Trump's itinerary is heavy with religious symbolism. He'll visit the birthplace of Islam, the Jewish homeland and the Vatican. Officials say the message is 'unity.'

'He strongly believes that it is the strength of the faith of people in these religions that will stand up and ultimately be victorious over ... forces of terrorism,' Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

PRESIDENT TRUMP SET TO ABANDON HARSH ANTI-MUSLIM RHETORIC HE USED DURING CAMPAIGN

Donald Trump's first overseas speech as president will frame the global fight against ISIS and other Islamist terror groups as 'a battle between good and evil' – but omits the phrase 'radical Islamic terrorism' – according to a draft the Associated Press reported seeing late on Friday.

Last year the president repeatedly lambasted his predecessor Barack Obama and his Democratic election opponent Hillary Clinton for avoiding that phrase, but he appears prepared to follow suit when he addresses a multi-nation Muslim summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

The speech reportedly calls for unity in the fight against radicalism in the Muslim world, urging Arab leaders to 'drive out the terrorists from your places of worship.'

Abandoning some of the harsh anti-Muslim rhetoric of his presidential campaign, the draft envisions new partnerships with America's traditional allies in the Middle East. It notably refrains from mentioning democracy and human rights – topics Arab leaders often view as U.S. moralizing – in favor of the more limited goals of peace and stability.

'We are not here to lecture – to tell other peoples how to live, what to do or who to be. We are here instead to offer partnership in building a better future for us all,' the document reads.

Trump left Washington Friday afternoon for Riyadh, the first stop on his maiden trip overseas trip as president. The marathon trip will also take him to Israel, the Vatican, Belgium and Italy. The trip is a key test of the president's diplomatic skills and a chance to add substance to a foreign policy he has described broadly as 'America First.'

Two different sources provided the AP with copies of the draft of his remarks, billed as a marquee speech of the trip. One version, obtained late Thursday, included edits with comments from an administration official, indicating it was still a work in progress.

Earlier, Donald Trump was pictured departing on the five-stop diplomacy tour through Europe and the Middle East that will cover 15,600 miles in the air over the course of nine days

United States flag is seen as royal guard patrols the hotel where US President Donald Trump will stay in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Friday

The White House confirmed the draft was authentic, but cautioned the president had not yet signed off on the final product.

'The president has not seen this draft,' White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. 'This is one of five drafts that have been written by various people. He continues to take input and is writing a final version.'

Trump's campaign was marked by his anti-Islamic rhetoric and his administration has twice tried to impose a travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries. 'I think Islam hates us,' he said at one point.

The draft of the speech includes no mention of 'radical Islamic terrorism' – a phrase that candidate Trump regularly criticized opponent Clinton and Obama for shying away from. His speech calls terrorism a widespread problem plaguing everyone who loves peace.

Trump's campaign was marked by his anti-Islamic rhetoric and his administration has twice tried to impose a travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries

The President was given a red carpet welcome as he arrived in the Saudi capital this morning, where he is set to deliver a message of 'friendship and hope'

He positions himself as an 'emissary for the American people, to deliver a message of friendship and hope,' according to the draft.

'This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects or different civilizations. This is a battle between those who seek to obliterate human life and those who seek to protect it,' the text reads. 'This is a battle between good and evil.'

Trump may seem an unlikely messenger to deliver an olive branch to the Muslim world.

Only a week after taking office, he signed an executive order to ban immigrants from seven countries – Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen – from entering the United States, a decision that sparked widespread protests at the nation's airports and demonstrations outside the White House. That ban was blocked in federal court, prompting the administration to sign a second one.

The second version, which dropped Iraq from the list, is also blocked in court, though Trump has said the measure is needed for the nation's security. As a campaigner, he called for a 'total and complete shutdown' of the entry of Muslims to the United States 'until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on,' insisting that a sizable segment of the Muslim population has 'great hatred toward Americans.'

His Saudi speech is aimed at the nations represented at an Arab and Muslim leaders' summit.

Trump intends to condemn Syria's President Bashar Assad for committing 'unspeakable crimes against humanity' and Iran for contributing to spiraling violence in Syria.

'All nations of conscience in the Middle East must work together to roll back Iran's destabilizing influence, restore a more stable balance of power in the region, and pray for the day when the Iranian people have the just and responsible government they deserve,' the draft reads.

Iran and Syria were not invited to the summit, and they are not part of a regional military alliance that Saudi Arabia is establishing to fight terrorism. The kingdom backs efforts to topple the Syrian government, which counts Iran and Russia as its closest allies.

The US and Saudi Arabian flags are seen flying together in the country's capital Riyadh

White House officials hope the trip marks an opportunity for Trump to recalibrate after one of the most difficult stretches of his new presidency.

The White House badly bungled the president's stunning firing of FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing the federal investigation into possible ties between Trump's campaign and Russia.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department relented to calls from Democrats to name a special counsel, tapping former FBI chief Robert Mueller to lead the probe.

As Trump flew to Saudi Arabia, more reports stemming from the Russia investigation surfaced.

The New York Times reported that Trump called Comey 'a real nut job' while discussing the ongoing investigation with two Russian officials visiting the White House earlier this month.

He also told them that firing Comey had 'taken off' the 'great pressure' he was feeling from the investigation, the Times reported.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that an unidentified senior Trump adviser was being considered a 'person of interest' in the law enforcement investigation.

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In addition, Comey agreed to testify at an open hearing of the Senate intelligence committee in the near future, the panel said.

Despite his domestic troubles, Trump was expected to get a warm reception in Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom's ruling family grew deeply frustrated with former President Barack Obama's detente with Iran and his restrained approach to the conflict in Syria.

In a sweetener for Saudi Arabia, U.S. officials said the Trump administration plans to announce $110 billion in advanced military equipment sales and training to the kingdom during the president's trip.

Trump will spend much of Saturday meeting with King Salman and other members of the royal family, culminating with a banquet dinner at the Murabba Palace.

He and First Lady Melania Trump were seen boarding Air Force One on Friday afternoon at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland

The president, the first lady, Chief of staff Reince Priebus, Jared Kushner, and Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, left the White House aboard Marine One just before 2pm Eastern

The President waves goodbye, hopefully to leave the turmoil of the last week behind as he leaves for his first foreign trip

The President and Vice President share some last words as Pence gets set to say farewell to the departing leader

The president, the first lady Melania Trump and Vice President Pence left the White House aboard Marine One just before 2pm Eastern

The first couple will spend 12 hours in the air on their overnight flight to Saudi Arabia

On Sunday, he'll hold meetings with more than 50 Arab and Muslim leaders heading converging on Riyadh for a regional summit focused largely on combating the Islamic State and other extremist groups.

Trump dodged one potential land mine when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted on war crime and genocide charges, announced that he would not attend the summit for personal reasons.

The centerpiece of Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia will be a speech Sunday at the Arab-Islamic-American summit.

White House aides view the address as a counter to Obama's 2009 speech to the Muslim world, which Trump advisers view as too apologetic for U.S. actions in the region.